Love’s Eternal Fire

Chapter 20: A Party

Kesiray's POV

Dinner seemed to drag on. Every time I got up to leave, someone came up to our table to tell me how happy they were I had woken up. I started getting a headache from smiling and saying, 'Thank you.' Finally, after the last person had left the table, I said goodnight to my parents and got to my feet. Walking to Gwena's house, I wasn't sure what I would find. All the lights were off, and it looked abandoned, looming in the distance. I raised my hand to knock on her door like I had done many times before, but let it fall before it hit, realizing there would be no one there to answer. Placing it on the knob instead, I turned it slowly. I was surprised to find it unlocked, but locking doors around here wasn't done much. No one here was looking to steal anything from anyone.

All the lights were off, but from the small amount of light shining through the windows, I could see it looked empty. All the furniture was gone, leaving only some dust, crumbs, and a few crumpled-up pieces of paper on the floor. Walking inside, I glanced around, unsure what I was searching for, just any answer I could find. Some shred of explanation as to why she left without any word.

I bent down and unfolded one of the pieces of paper, disappointed to find nothing on it except a list of students she was teaching. Leaving it where I saw it, I stood up and walked further into her house. Gwena's bedroom door was open slightly, so I pushed it open. Her room was as deserted as the rest of the house. A few pieces of trash were scattered throughout the room, but one thing did stick out to me. One piece of paper wasn't crumpled but lying flat on the floor, a pencil not too far away. Walking over, I picked it up and saw a couple of words scribbled in Gwena's handwriting,

Ray, remember Sol.....

The rest of the sentence hadn't been written yet. A giant pencil line indicated that the note had been abandoned or ripped from her hands before she could finish. What was she telling me to remember? Sol... What did that mean? Is a solar eclipse possible? That was an essential phenomenon to fairies because it was thought that our powers were unlimited during that time. Folding the paper up tightly, I slipped it into my pocket. Looking around again, I scanned the rest of her home but couldn't find everything else of significance, so I left, shutting the door tightly behind me.

She was gone, but it looked like she tried to leave me one last message but got interrupted. Why didn't they want her to talk with me? Maybe more happened in the forest than they wanted me to know about, and they knew Gwena would tell me. But what possibly could have happened? The only thing that was going on was the fight. Straining my brain, I tried desperately to remember anything else about what had happened but became frustrated when all I could find was a black hole. It was getting late, and I knew I had to be up early for Genevieve's birthday party tomorrow. Maybe some sleep would help bring my memory back, so I headed home to get ready for bed. I put the paper from Gwena in my bedside table, hiding it under some notebooks. Rolling over in bed, I closed my eyes and hoped that tomorrow would bring me more clarity.

Running through the forest, someone was chasing me, but I wasn't scared; I was happy. I felt safe and light as air as I jumped over logs and let my wings lift me slightly off the ground. Laughing, I ran faster, trying to stay ahead of who was chasing me. But who was it? I could hear their footsteps behind me, dashing, hearing their breathing and laughing as they tried to catch me.

"Kesi, where are you taking us?" the male voice asked, filling my ears and making my heart race.

"Just follow me," I said back, knowing I was heading in the right direction but not exactly where I was taking us. Faster and faster we went, the trees turning into blurs, rushing past my head while the wind whistled loudly in my ears. Whoever was behind me was closing in; I could hear them getting closer. A warm hand closed around me, sending electricity shooting up my arm, making my feet slow down and my heart melt with satisfaction. I stopped in my tracks, his hands gently around my upper arms, trailing their fingers up and down. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back to rest it against their hard chest. I began to turn around to finally see the face of the person, causing my body to shiver in pleasure.

"Kesiray! KESIRAY!" someone was shaking me hard, breathing into my face.

"What?" I said, jerking up in bed to see my mom's face inches from mine.

"You have to get up; Thazel needs us to help set up for the party," she barked. It looked like things were back to normal, and she was back to her prickly self.

"Right, I'll be right there," I said, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

"Hurry up," she said, leaving my room in a huff. Flopping back onto my pillow, I thought about the dream I was having. It had seemed so real and vivid, the smell of the forest, the feeling of this man's hands on me, how I melted under his touch. Why did I feel like seeing his face held a lot of significance? That couldn't be right; it had only been a dream. Sliding out of bed, I went to the bathroom to shower and prepare for the party. When I came downstairs, my mom worked on food, cutting sandwiches into perfect triangles. I guessed that Thazel had requested this. I remember planning the party with her the morning I was attacked.

"Finally," my mom said, glancing up for a millisecond to look at me. "Come and help me cut these things."

"Alright," I replied, coming to take another knife out of the block on the counter.

"Thazel has insisted on tiny tea sandwiches," she told me.

"Well, it wouldn't be Thazel if it wasn't as difficult as possible," I reminded her. "I told her she was going overboard, but she said everything needed to be perfect."

"Have you given any more thought to the idea of taking over the earth fairies of this tribe?" she asked, making me freeze with the knife halfway into the soft white bread.

"Not really," I said honestly.

"Are your father and I going to have to make this decision for you?" she asked, irritated at my lack of interest.

"No, but I still think Thazel is a better fit. Maybe Indi's personality will help him lead these people. He'll be able to do it without emotion getting in the way," I said.

"Exactly. He'll never be able to empathize with people and their problems," she told me. "Being a leader isn't just about battles and meeting with the queen. You must listen to all the people's grievances and try your best to help them. Both Thazel and Indi lack empathy for others, you know that."

"What about if I agree to take over until Labivia or Genevieve is old enough? They're the next in line to take over after Thazel," I suggested. My mom stopped cutting and looked at me, pursing her lips while she thought about what I said.

“And what about when you have a child? If you’re in charge, they would be the next in line,” she told me.

“Can’t we make some agreement? I mean, maybe the queen would be willing to put something in writing,” I said.

“I would rather not overcomplicate something that doesn’t need to be,” she said.

“I don’t understand this sudden change. Why do I need to take over so badly now? You had no problems with Thazel all these years,” I said, slamming my knife down on the counter.

“It’s only been recently that we realized how close we are to leaving the earth fairies in the hands of our children,” she told me, raising her voice. "Things will change here, and you'll have to accept it. Now, don't go getting all upset. You need to go help Thazel set up for the party outside."

My mom returned to cutting the sandwiches, and I stalked from the house, angry that she was putting me in this position, but knowing if I stayed, it would only lead to a screaming match between the two of us. All I had ever wanted to do was go off and explore things on my own. Was this her way of preventing me from doing that? I found Thazel under a large white tent, covering a vast area of grass, with many round tables, each with a pristine white tablecloth just brushing the grass. It looked like she had chosen the most extensive china settings. Plate, charger, bowl, silverware, and cups are all placed perfectly and symmetrically around the table. Fine china, embossed with green and gold, just waiting for a child to knock it to the ground and shatter it into one thousand pieces.

"Ray, there you are," I heard her annoyed voice behind me.

"Nice to see you too, Thazel," I said, turning around to look at her.

"Sorry, there's just a lot to do. It's good to see you out of the hospital," she said, looking down at the clipboard in her hands.

"Can I help with anything?" I asked, knowing I would regret it.

"Aunt Ray!" a little voice squeaked from somewhere. I was then engulfed in the arms of my nieces, Labivia and Genevieve, both giggling as they hugged me around the middle.

"Hello, girls," I said, squatting down to their level.

"We missed you while you were gone," Labivia said.

"You mean in the hospital," Thazel corrected her.

"Right," Labivia corrected with a nod at her mom.

"You were gone forever," Genevieve added.

"I know, I'm so sorry," I told them.

"Never mind that," Thazel huffed, shooing the girls away. "Go find Halia."

"I'll see you girls soon!" I called after them as they ran to find their nanny. Turning back to Thazel, she looked somewhat frazzled.

"Will you go help the water fairies with the ice sculpture? I'm worried they'll put it in the wrong place," she said. It goes right here." Thazel showed me a page on her clipboard that was a hand-drawn map of the entire area, with details on what would go in every square inch.

"Sure," I replied. "Oh, and I like the napkin color!" Thazel rolled her eyes at my joke, remembering our conversation about the same green colors she couldn't choose between. Letting my wings out, I fluttered over to the small stream where the water fairies were attempting to make a sculpture of Genevieve and freeze it.

"Steady! Hold it steady!" a man named Galem said as they raised the water from the stream in flowing waves and spiral tubes. I watched as it began to morph into what looked like a horse before finally taking the shape of my niece. Another fairie raised their hand, and the water froze midair in the blink of an eye.

"I'm here to tell you where it goes," I said, watching as all their eyes turned to me.

"Of course, Miss Kesiray, we'll follow you," Galem said. I walked them to where the sculpture was to be placed, making sure it faced the exact same way as I was told. Once that was finished, Thazel found me and gave me another task, which repeated every fifteen minutes. The party started in two hours, and I couldn't wait for it to end.